


A psychiatrist

by toxicscotch



Series: He's only human [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Humanstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 15:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1108545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toxicscotch/pseuds/toxicscotch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A big dirty city never did a country boy like you good, had the tendency to wear county folk out. From its hobos to its rich white men, you thought New York wasn't half bad. After all it did offer you a job at its psychiatric ward as it's head psychiatrist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A psychiatrist

New York was the city your mom warned you about when you were a kid. To never end up in a place like that. A big dirty city never did a country boy like you good, had the tendency to wear county folk out. From its hobos to its rich white men, you thought New York wasn't half bad. After all it did offer you a job at its psychiatric ward as it's head psychiatrist. You couldn't turn that offer down of course, it's pay was amazing and getting out of that small town in Kansas was going to teach you to be a man. So you said your goodbyes to your ma and pa and left the state the same day.

"Kankri, be careful out there honey pea, I don't want you to run back home with your tail between ya legs and bed for ya old room back. You left cause you wanted to, remember?" Your mom spoke to you, you could almost hear the worry in her voice.

You sighed, leaning back on the wall in your one bedroom apartment and fixed your red sweater. "Ma, I'll be fine, don't worry about me, and tell pa not to worry either. I can already tell that he's worried something is gonna happen to his ' Lil Pup. '" You let out a small laugh and shook your head. "Ma, if anything happens to me I'll call ya right away, alright?"

She grumble. "Ah fine. But be careful out there sweet sugar, the city is a big place. Especially for a handsome young man like you. I love you honey pea, take care."

"Yes ma, love you too." You hung up and stuffed your phone in your pocket after looking at the time. You started your new job tomorrow morning, so you had a whole day to unpack and relax. So, you did what any guy in his 20's would do. Sat down and watched some television. The television was small, you had brought it from the farmhouse and that farmhouse didn't have more than just a kitchen, a restroom, two bedrooms and a living room. It wasn't much but you were the richest family on the block because you owned three cows. You chuckled softly, leaning your head back and looking up at the ceiling fan which was turning slowly. You already missed the broken down house. It was small and smelt bad but it was where you grew up. Where you learned to walk and talk. Where no matter how many times you fell you got right back up and kept walking despite the cuts and scrapes. It was a run down crooked house that held four people. Your ma, pa, who was the town priest, your little brother, and yourself. For four people it was a pretty small place, so you could also say you were happy to have moved out and started a new life alone. You stood, running your hands through your hair as a knock at the door made you practically jump out of your tight ass red sweater.

"Well look what the cat dragged in eh? Nice sweater you got there, red. M'names Meenah, and it seemed t'me that you're m'new neighbor." She had long fishtails and short hair which made you puzzle if her fishtails were real or extensions. But she was black so you really didn't want to seem rude and ask.

You still gave her a smile and a warm handshake despite her not-so-welcoming greeting. "Good evening Meenah, my name's Kankri, Kankri Vantas."

She snorted, "Kid, don't you know that here in New'ork you never tell a complete stranger ya'last name? Always go for a fake'on trout. But hey, ya'just learnin. But for now, m'names Meenah, Meenah 'Jones.'" She let out a stout laugh, leaning on your doorframe. "But what brung ya t'new'ork? Ya don't seem from'ere."

Damn she was good. Or maybe it was your accent. "Ah, hm. I'm from um, Hubabaloo, Texas." Keep it fake Kankri, good job.

"HAH! Sure. C'mon kid, where ya from eh? Tennessee? Arkansas?"

"Kansas."

"Ahhhh that's what I thought. Ya accent really don't keep that private huh?" Meenah smiled, her tongue picking at her teeth, hands stuffed in her back pockets. "So why here huh?"

You looked at her up and down. She wasn't half bad. She gave off this leadership aura which you honestly craved in people. Probably why you surrounded yourself in lunatics. It's what they mostly didn't have. "I got offered a job as a psychiatrist at the psychiatric ward."

She narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw, but shook the expression away quickly. "Oh so ya a shrink eh? Can ya tell me what's wrong with me doc?"

"I'm not a shrink, Meenah. I'm a psychiatrist. You talk to me about how you feel and I try to help you over come emotional problems. Shrinks help the mentally unstable."

"Well isn't a shrink more fittin for a ward?"

You shrugged, licking your lips as they were dry, you had been smashing them together. "I suppose but they wanted a psychiatrist so I decided to—"

"I'd love ta stay'n'chat red, but I got places ta go, people to meet." She interrupted with a wave of her hand, which wore a stunning amount of gold around her wrists. "I'll see ya'round neighbor." Her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes half shut as she turned tale and left.

You tilted your head in curiosity, leaning on the door as you watched her walk down the flight of stairs with a melancholy look her face.

For the next few hours you decided to unpack, to make the place look welcoming and well, not dead, for the place had a sort of depressing tone to it, which didn't run by you. By the time you were finished the place looked rather warm, with a few family photos here and there, it really brought the place together. Making it feel more like home.

 

The next day was your first day at work. You had to sign in in the front office, the owner and nurses greeting you with loving smiles and firm handshakes. The ward really gave you chills. You weren't raised to believe in the unholy, but this place didn't settle right with you, but work was work. You had to earn money somehow right? Nurse Medigo was the head of the ward, she was a stout young woman with curly black hair that was worn back and tied with a red hair tie. She was painted with light colors, rosy cheeks and a smile that made a warm feeling spread all over. You could tell she was from the country, her accent gave it away which made you feel better about your own. "Ah, Dr.Vantas if I'm correct?" She hugged the clipboard to her chest, her bangs neatly tucked behind her ear.

"Yes, I do hope I'm on time. How embarrassing it would be to be late." You smiled, lacing your fingers together in front of you. "The front office said I have a patient already?"

"Oh yes, he's been here in the ward for a few years now. He's a regular, has seen four doctors already in the past year and no one could really help him. Poor soul, I really wish he could see the light with you. I hope you can help him out." Miss Megido's smile only grew in size, adding to her rosy cheeks.

"That's what I'm hoping for as well."

She led you to your new office, your patient sitting in the leather chair in front of your grand wooden desk. He wasn't small, his back was very defined as you could tell from his tight white shirt and his slouch. Black hair was slightly slicked back to reveal two deep scars above his right eye, breaking his thick eyebrow in two. You took your seat in your proper chair and took the clipboard from Miss Megido's hands and waved her off. The patients name was Cronus Ampora. Came from a stable household, absentee mother, younger brother and great father. He was 24, Russian, and graduated with amazing grades and a 2.7 GPA. Worked as a former teacher but currently unemployed as he was labeled insane and delusional. You scanned the profile once more before putting it down, breaking the silence of each other's steady breathing and the clock on the wall to your right.

"Alright, Cronus, tell me how you've been feeling for the past week huh? No ones been here for that long." Crossing your arms in front of your chest you leaned forward and studied him. The way his crystal blue eyes flickered down to his hands that now clenched. "You're nervous right? It's cause I'm new? You have no need to feel that way around—"

"You havwe a really nice accent." He stuttered, flinching when he did.

You blinked, noticing his own Russian one. "And so do you. But how do you feel?" Taking hold of your pen, you clicked it on and began writing.

"Vwell.. I guess I'wve felt better. I havwen't drowvned in 16 hours. That's a nevw record for me personally. But I'vwe been getting that feeling again, ya knowv..? The feeling like I don't really belong here." Cronus fiddled with his hands, a few stray black locks fell into his eyes, making them soften and half close. "Am I gonna get better Doc?"

"That's why I'm here, Cronus, to help you get your life back together and go home again." You offered him a warm smile, putting down the pen and flipped through the other files. "But tell me more about this drowning dilemma." The next page was covered in notes from the previous doctor, Doctor Will. ' The patient has not shown improvements. As much as I try to talk through to him about his fantasies, he seems headstrong about them and does not want to I've up the fact that he is not a "sea dweller". It seems I will have to use extreme measure with him. It has come to this point. ' It only got worse from there. From ' mentally unstable ' to ' ignorant and blinded by fantasies. '

Cronus nodded, closing his eyes and sinking into the chair. "It starts as usual. It's time for my shovwer. And I'm usually the last person there, I like to take my time." He pauses and continues a breath later after opening his eyes. "But, the feeling gets to me again Doc. I just close my eyes," he does so, "and I begin to svwim. I don't knowv vwhere I'm goin but it seems pretty safe. I keep swvimming, and I can breathe. Undervwater." He stops and opens his eyes at you, sitting up with a sigh. "I can tell you think I'm crazy already."

"Quite the contrary Cronus. I think you're just looking for a safe place. So tell me, do you feel.. unwanted? Neglected? Maybe even misplaced?" You keep writing, your brown eyes locking onto his sea blue ones now and then. "It seems you just want to feel wanted."

He nods, seeming interested now. "Yeah. I don't feel safe here anymore Doc. Like, I don't FEEL crazy. But people tell me I am. ..Am I..?"

You snort and shake your head. "If you think you're crazy Cronus, then label everyone else as crazy. It's normal human nature to crave want."

Cronus stops you. "But Doc, this is vwhere you're gonna think I'm insane."

You chuckled, continuing to write. "I've heard a lot, Mr.Ampora, but go on ahead."

He looked around slowly, his hands sliding ahead to add emphases to every single word that came out of his mouth. Cronus awaited the laugh that should've come out of your mouth. Even a snort. But nothing. You only nodded and kept writing. He glanced up at you and stood up after you announced that his appointment was over. Cronus looked at you once more before closing the door behind him slowly. His words rang in your head. The pen in your hand writing friskily, every letter digging into the ivory colored paper, your eyes narrowing at the period. You didn't want to tell him he was insane but what human in their right mind would consider themselves a fish? A god damn fish. Finally the long awaited laugh escaped your lips. And you didn't feel any pity.

 

When you were a little kid, in the old rundown farmhouse, your family had a nice infestation. They would be everywhere. You could not leave any food out behind your back because by the time you turned around there they were, eating away. You would open the pantry or cabinets and there was a nest of them. You were of course disgusted and chose not to ever open a cabinet again. It got to the point where you started not minding them. But then again your parents were working and your little brother was too small to do anything so you had to make sure the mice didn't eat him alive. The point of this story was that you couldn't stand mice. So when your "new" apartment had gotten a nice infestation, you packed your things and stayed with Meenah, right down the hall.

"You sure there isn't any mice in here?" You asked with a slight weary tone in your voice.

"Ah dontcha worry trout, good'ol Jade'ere will catch'em all and eat'em right before your eyes." Meenah smiled and gave her black feline friend a scratch behind the ears.

From that point on, you knew you had to invest in a cat. "So how long would you be allowing me to take residence here?" You glanced up at her with your hands in your lap.

Meenah shrugged, leaning back on the couch with her legs slightly spread open as she waved her hand. "However long those rat killers will'a clean your place. Whatta shame your new crib got taken over by those furry lil'critters."

"That's very kind of you, Meenah." She wasn't a bad person, intimidating, but kind hearted. "I just want to move back as soon as possible to not cause you any disturbances."

"Disturb-fences, disturb-fences." She snorted.

"Disturb...fences..?"

"Ya'aren't one at all Red, just promise notta have sex under my roof and we'll be okie dokie cooli-oki."


End file.
